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World Travel in Your 30s.Wed, 22 Jul 2015 07:50:28 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.530travelerhttps://feedburner.google.comDo Digital Nomads Get Culture Shock?http://www.30traveler.com/digital-nomads-get-culture-shock/
http://www.30traveler.com/digital-nomads-get-culture-shock/#commentsMon, 18 Nov 2013 23:02:14 +0000http://www.30traveler.com/?p=5972We were a bit miserable our first few days in Mexico and I just wasn’t sure why. Sure, we were rained in for basically a 24 hour period but that didn’t seem to be enough to cause the problem. Finally as we started to feel better, I realized I’d just had a bit of culture shock. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit because we’re in touristy part of Mexico for gawd’s sakes. What sort of travel wimps are we?

The weather has improved, we’ve figured out the supermarket and settled in a bit.

Another issue was that it took me a few days to detox from 6 months eating vegan cheese and vegan desserts daily.

The first few days here I felt like I was on a cleanse or something. It was pretty hard to go from eating vegan cheese, vegan squeezy cream, and vegan cupcakes to being back to pretty much just eating vegetables! In America, I find it hard not to overeat. Other places, where there aren’t vegan convenience foods, it can be hard to enough food when you’re vegan, literally only eating vegetables (corn tortillas and toppings) and not a fan of things like smoothies to drink calories. Now I’m virtually inhaling guacamole and refried beans and feeling better for that extra fat and calories.

We’re also facing a lot of decisions currently. Kathryn is missing being a doctor and doing short term work as doctor anywhere but home is a logistical nightmare because of licensing and insurance issues. For me, the clock is running down on my fertility and I want to start trying for a baby, which as a same-sex couple is easier said than done!

So, yes, these digital nomads get culture shock too! When that culture shock collides with lots of big life decisions needing to be made, it can make for quite a bit of anxiety!

Vegans will often be too polite to mention things they feel uncomfortable with, but if you’re looking to make a vegan guest comfortable then here are some basics.

1. Feather free.

Give your guest a feather free duvet and pillows.

2. Vegetarian soap.

Lathering in beef tallow doesn’t appeal to vegans. They likely will bring their own soap but in case they forget, why not leave a vegetable based soap with their towel on their pillow. You can buy vegan soap at virtually any supermarket. Look for vegetable glycerin on the label.

Even liquid soaps are sometimes not vegan friendly.

3. Invite them to store food in the fridge and prepare their own food.

It’s understandable that people who aren’t vegans aren’t familiar with cooking vegan. Save yourself the stress and ask your guest if they’re prefer to bring their own food and cook for themselves.

If you are worried this might come off as inhospitable, don’t. Your guest could very well prefer this option. The last thing a vegan wants is their host to feel stressed about cooking for them.

It can also be a bit stressful for vegans to worry about whether the food they’ll be served meets their vegan standards (e.g., some people think vegans eat honey and make mistakes like this in cooking for vegans).

If you’re curious about vegan food, asking your vegan guest if they’d like to cook for you during their stay is completely acceptable! This is likely to help your vegan guest feel better about their fussiness so if this is something you’d like, communicate it.

4. Avoid cross contamination.

Don’t stir vegan food with non-vegan spoons, or cook vegan food together with non-vegan food. For example, don’t fry vegan food in oil that has been used for non-vegan food. If you’re BBQing, offer an alternative to cooking vegan food on a grill that is covered in charred meat juices! Cooking vegan food on aluminum foil is a good option if all your pans are used for meat.

5. Berries.

If you want something super easy that a vegan will love, berries are a great option. For example, if you want to offer a vegan a snack or as a no effort vegan dessert option.

6. Vegan Wine and Beer

Be aware that wine and beer aren’t always vegan e.g., fish byproducts are used in the filtering. So, if you’re planning on serving wine or beer, make sure it’s vegan. Again, it’s fine to ask your guest if there are any vegan wines or beers they like. Don’t worry yourself about researching this topic – it’s better to just ask your guest.

]]>http://www.30traveler.com/hosting-a-vegan/feed/45 Must Try Vegan Foods for Visitors to the UShttp://www.30traveler.com/5-must-try-vegan-foods/
http://www.30traveler.com/5-must-try-vegan-foods/#commentsThu, 23 May 2013 19:04:23 +0000http://www.30traveler.com/?p=3806Soyatoo – Vegan Whipped Cream in a Can!

OMG this stuff is delicious. When I went vegan, I didn’t really think about missing cream, but it’s really the only thing I’ve been missing.

Make sure you follow the directions and leave it out of the fridge before attempting to squeeze it. The can says leave it out for 10-15 mins but I recommend longer, say 30 mins.

I ruined one can by using up all the propellant but trying to squeeze it straight from the fridge. Oops!

Vanilla coconut milk ice cream still has a really strong coconut flavor, and I’m not convinced about coconut and vanilla as a flavor combination for ice-cream.

I think the fruity flavor of chocolate goes better with the coconut flavor. The chocolate is a strong enough flavor that the coconut is the secondary flavor and adds a nice extra flavor note, whereas with the vanilla ice-cream, the coconut flavor dominates.

I’m not generally a chocolate ice-cream fan but this stuff is great.

Almond and soy milk ice-creams tend to be excessively icy and too sweet (and I almost ever think anything is too sweet).

Daiya – Vegan Cheese

I didn’t realize how good Daiya is until I came back to the US after months of eating Cheezly in NZ. Although Daiya is famous for being a vegan cheese that melts like regular cheese, I don’t like it melted. I like it on tacos etc un-melted.

I’ve only been here 2 weeks and I’ve eaten 3 packets of Daiya (either the cheddar shreds or the mozzarella shreds – both delish!).

Vegan Queso

If you’ve never heard of Queso, it’s like a spicy cheesy sauce for Mexican food. Great for nachos!

This restaurant is 100% vegetarian and almost entirely vegan. It offers an extensive buffet of vegetarian/vegan dishes, Mediterranean style. You can find anything from the soup of the day (pumpkin, legumes, cereals…), vegetarian meats, fresh salads, vegan cheeses, chickpea falafel, mushroom risotto rendered creamy with almond butter, pasta made with semolina flour, and soy nuggets. What’s more they offer an array of typical Italian desserts, all vegan friendly. You can try a little Amaretto Semifreddi (an ice cream-like dessert), apple crumble and vegan cakes. The staff is young and friendly; the place modern and stylish. Definitely worth seeing! Via Bergamo, 56. Open Monday 9:30am-3:30pm, Tuesday-Sunday 9:30am-11pm.http://opsveg.com/

REWILD CRUELTY-FREE CLUB

Why choose vegan? Because vegan products require a much smaller fraction of land and fewer resources than those necessary to produce animal products. According to Rewild Cruelty-Free Club, the choice is simple: choose vegan. Visitors get the oppurtunity to eat and drink whatever they like without having to worry about ingredients or limited choices. They offer sandwiches and wraps with vegan cold cuts, sausages and veggies burgers. Main courses (lasagna, tagliatelle, ravioli, soups and rolls), and second courses (breaded cutlets, roasts, medalions etc..) are all made with a seitan, tempeh or tofu base. You can choose between bruschetta with vegetable/tofu/organic spreads, vegan cheeses, and even shakes and puddings with vegetable milk. You won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything! And everything is obviously…free of animal exploitation! Via Giovannipoli, 18 (Garbatella). Open Tuesday-Sunday starting 8pm.http://www.rewild.it/

GIUFÀ LIBRERIA CAFFÈ

This is an intimate gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan friendly bar/bookshop. Serves hot chocolates and cappuccinos made with soy milk, biological teas and infusions, and a small array of vegan desserts (try the mini wine doughnuts!). Also serves vegan and biological savoury tarts. You can aim at spending around €10. Via degli Aurunci, 38 (San Lorenzo). Open Tues-Thurs 1pm-1am, Fri-Sat 1pm-2am, Sun-Mon 3pm-12pm.http://www.libreriagiufa.it

ALVARADO STREET

Alvarado Street is all about “expressing yourself”. It was born as a way to combine the pub atmosphere with different cultural and underground scenes. Spread over two floors, Alvarado Street offers pub style vegetarian and vegan dishes, combined with everything from photographic exhibitions, literary readings, live music, and more. Alvarado Street is not primarily vegan, but is a vegan friendly pub and offers a number of dishes including vegan cannelloni, mopur and tofu sandwiches, vegan couscous and biological wine and beer. It also organizes a vegan aperitivo 1-2 times a month, at very affordable prices Via Attilio Mori, 27. Open every day 7pm-2amhttp://www.alvaradostreet.net

TROPICAL ICE

For an afternoon gelato head over to Tropical Ice, a summer haven for gastronomical minorities such as vegetarians and Celiacs. The ice cream is delicious and made with all natural ingredients. You can find a number of soy flavors, including the panna (whipped cream) that goes on top! All fruit flavors, as well as the dark chocolate are completely milk free. The consistency of the ice cream is perfect, which is something not all vegan ice cream is able to achieve. They serve in both cups and cones; the former made with biodegradable material and the latter gluten-free and vegan. Via Nomentana, 115. Open Mon-Sat 10am-1am. Sun 3pm-1am.

– don’t require a freezer – unless your hostel has one – my current hostel has two giant fridges but no freezer.

Always check if your hostel has a freezer before you go shopping. If you do have freezer access, frozen vegan burritos such as Amy’s brand are an awesome choice. It’s a good idea to also check how full the fridge is before you go shopping as things won’t keep cool properly if the fridge is super full and/or being opened extremely frequently.

I always pack with me

So that I cam pump up the flavor of things I buy, I always pack

– garlic powder (found in the spice section at the supermarket. It’s 100% garlic)
– a bag of chilli flakes

– From the Wholefoods salad bar, I loaded up a container full of cilantro, spring onions, and local tofu (not the disgusting stuff in long life packets. This tofu tasted like feta cheese. It was so delicious!)

From these ingredients I assembled tacos for lunch.

For dinner, I had tacos again but this time with a can of vegan chilli, another tomato, and the rest of my packet of Daiya.

Day 2

I bought more of the tofu for dinner.

For lunch, I bought tofu egg-salad (as in no egg) from the Wholefoods salad bar. It’s made with vegenaise – one of the most delicious vegan products of all time (and for some inexplicable reason spelt vegenaise instead of veganaise).

They were out of cilantro at the salad bar so I had to buy a bunch.

I bought a mini wholegrain baguette and assembled a sandwich with spring onion, cilantro, tomato and eggless egg salad.